Islamic schools in Perth,
Melbourne and Brisbane will
hang on to their public
funding following a Federal
Government review sparked by
concerns over their
financial management and
governance.

Federal Education and
Training Minister Simon
Birmingham launched a review
of six schools affiliated
with the Australian
Federation of Islamic
Councils (AFIC) across the
country in May last year.

In November, the department
announced Malek Fahd Islamic
School in New South Wales
and the Islamic School of
Canberra would lose their
federal funding.

However today, Senator
Birmingham announced the
Langford Islamic College in
Perth, Islamic College of
Melbourne and the Islamic
College of Brisbane had made
"substantial" changes to
ensure appropriate
independence, changing their
constitution and
implementing a plan of
self-identified improvements
and changes stipulated by
the department.

"We expect the highest
standards of accountability
in relation to the use of
taxpayer funds in
non-government schools," he
said.

"These three schools have
demonstrated a willingness
to cooperate, a willingness
to reform their governance
structures, guarantee their
school independence, and
have appropriate
accountability about how
taxpayer dollars are used."

The changes include who can
sit on the schools' boards,
and how they structure their
financial arrangements.

Senator Birmingham said the
Canberra school's funding
had been cut pending a
review, while Sydney's Malek
Fahd school had its $19
million in federal funding
revoked last week.

Malek Fahd, in Sydney's
south-west, is Australia's
largest Islamic school with
more than 2,000 students.

"What we saw was good faith
negotiations undertaken by
four of the schools to
respond to Federal
Government concerns.
Unfortunately, two did not,
and we took the difficult
but strong decision to
withdraw that funding which
terminated effective last
Friday," he said.

Colleges stood to lose
millions

The Perth and Melbourne
colleges receive about $5
million per annum, while
Brisbane receives about $7
million.

"These are significant sums
of money," Senator
Birmingham said.

"[There were] arrangements
in place that enabled other
external entities to
generate an income out of
certain loan structures, or
other financial structures
the schools had in place.

"That is an unacceptable
arrangement to have when
entities or those other
external bodies may also be
having some influence over
the governance decisions."

He said the schools'
affiliations with AFIC meant
there was some concern
funding was not used
exclusively for student
welfare, and they did not
have independence in their
governance structure.

He stressed the
irregularities were linked
to financial management
rather than curriculum.

The Minister said the
schools would file quarterly
reports for the next 12
months.

"Our expectation is that
every school that receives
government funding, operates
on a not-for-profit basis,
is free of external
influence, and the dollars
are used solely for the
education and benefit of
students in that school
community," he said.

Senator Birmingham said a
decision on the Islamic
College of South Australia
would be made in the coming
weeks.

The
3rd annual Toowoomba
International Food
Festival and Open
Day of Garden City
Mosque held on
Sunday, 10 April
2016 at the Clive
Berghofer Recreation
Centre, University
of Southern
Queensland (USQ),
Toowoomba gathered
high profile
officials, religious
and political
leaders. The event
was organised by the
Islamic Society of
Toowoomba (IST). It
was sponsored by the
Multicultural
Affairs Queensland,
and supported by USQ
and MCCA.

Mr
Khaled Skaik was the
Mater of the
Ceremony for the
formal session which
started with the
recitation from the
Holy Qur'an by Hafez
Riadh Saleh
accompanied by
English translation
on the screen.

The
chief guest was Mr
Ian Stewart,
Commissioner of
Queensland Police
Services,
and Mr
Jim Madden MP, State
Member from Ipswich
West, represented
the Premier of
Queensland.

The
re-elected Mayor of
Toowoomba Regional
Council, Cr Paul
Antonio praised the
IST in engaging with
the diverse
community in
Toowoomba over the
years.

Federal Member of
Groom, Mr Ian
Macfarlane MP spoke
on the peaceful and
respectful community
of Toowoomba. Dr
John McVeigh MP,
State Member of
Toowoomba South; Mr
Wayne Briscoe,
Executive Director
of Multicultural
Affairs Queensland;
Dr Jonathan Inkpin,
Chair of Toowoomba
Goodwill Committee,
and Rector, Perish
of St Luke,
Toowoomba; and Imam
Abdul Kader, Garden
City Mosquealso
spoke on the
occasion.

Prof
Shahjahan Khan,
Founding President
of IST, Director of
Muslim Community
Cooperative
Australia, and Chair
of USQ Multicultural
Staff Network made a
PowerPoint
presentation
explaining the
history Muslims in
Toowoomba and
genesis of the first
Mosque in the city.
He also covered the
long standing and
ongoing engagement
of Muslims with
wider community,
especially with the
neighbours of the
Mosque and religious
and cultural groups
in Toowoomba. The
plan for the
expansion of the
burned Mosque and
its design were also
revealed.

The
President of IST, Mr
Michael Yahya
Anderson expressed
the vote of thanks
to everyone who
participated and
volunteer for the
event, and cooked
and sold food to
support the
community.

In
addition to
varieties of food
from diverse
communities, there
were information
booth, activities
for women and fun
for the children.
Some community and
charity
organisations also
took part in the
event.

It
was a perfect
opportunity for the
Muslims to know
fellow Muslims and
non-Muslims in a
very friendly and
respectful
environment. Many
people come to the
event from Brisbane
to expressed
solidarity with
their brother and
sisters of
Toowoomba.

Reported by
Professor Shahjahan
Khan, Founding
President of Islamic
Society of Toowoomba

IT ONCE had support from the
King of Saudi Arabia but a
controversial Islamic school
now faces financial ruin
after $20 million in
government funding was cut
off.

As of Friday, the Malek Fahd
Islamic School will no
longer be supported by
Federal Government funding.

It was one of two to be
stripped of millions after a
review found evidence of
financial mismanagement.
Both have appeals pending
but if unsuccessful
thousands of students could
be left without a school.

On Tuesday the government
announced three other
schools around Australia
were safe, and would
continue to receive funding
after promising to change
their practices.

But the future of one other
school hangs in the balance.

So what is going on?

PROBLEMS IDENTIFIED

The six schools identified
for review were all
affiliated with the
Australian Federation of
Islamic Councils. In total
the schools received about
$41 million in funding in
2015, up to 75 per cent of
their funding.

But a Deloitte audit last
year found all of them
failed to meet basic
standards required to
qualify for this funding.

It found ongoing concerns
about the schools’
independence, financial
management and governance
arrangements.

They are all required to
operate as financially
viable, not-for-profit
organisations, under the
Australian Education Act
2013.

In addition to this the
funding must only be used
for school education.

“Australians rightly expect
that every taxpayer dollar
committed to school
education is genuinely
expended on school
education,” Education
Minister Simon Birmingham
said in a statement on
Tuesday.

The Education Department
issued notices to the six
schools in November asking
them to “show cause” why
their funding should not be
cut off.

The responses of two schools
were unsatisfactory and the
department decided in
February to stop funding
them.

TWO SCHOOLS CUT OFF

As of Friday, the
controversial Malek Fahd
Islamic School in Sydney
stopped receiving any
government money after it
was found to be operating
for profit. It’s now
fighting to stay open.

Students at Malek Fahd
Islamic School are in limbo as
government funding is withdrawn.

The management of the school
has been in disarray for
years and the government
reportedly found evidence of
a phantom loan, mystery
payments and undeclared
conflicts of interest during
its investigation.

Last year the ABC got leaked
documents that alleged some
representatives at the
school’s parent body, the
Australian Federation of
Islamic Councils, profited
from taxpayer funds given to
the schools.

The documents revealed
senior administrators were
paid up to $500,000 for
“unidentified services”.

A loan of more than $1.4
million was also given to
the AFIC but no one knows
what the money was used for
and there is no agreement
covering the terms.

Police were called to the
school in March after a
meeting to discuss its
future turned chaotic.
Microphones were reportedly
snatched, a lawyer was
allegedly assaulted and
delegates were blockaded by
“burly looking men” as
delegates blamed each other
for the mismanagement.

The future of the school,
which was built on land
using a $12 million gift
from then-King Fahd of Saudi
Arabia, now hangs in the
balance.

The late-King Fahd of Saudi
Arabia helped found the school.

More than 2000 students have
been left in limbo as the
school based in Greenacre
fights to stay open.

Malek Fahd was receiving
about $20 million from the
government so the decision
could see it close. But it
has pledged to stay open for
another term while it
appeals to the
Administrative Appeals
Tribunal.

It lodged the appeal after
an internal review this year
backed the Department’s
original decision.

Interim board chairwoman
Miriam Silva said the school
would seek re-registration
and had made “good progress”
towards meeting the
government’s strict funding
requirements.

The Islamic School of
Canberra, which caters to
217 students, was also due
to have its funding
withdrawn on April 8 but has
been granted extra time to
apply for an internal
review.

It could lose $1 million in
government funding.

Mr Birmingham said the
Department decided in
February to cut funding to
the two schools as they “did
not acknowledge the issues,
did not engage their own
independent support, had
limited engagement with the
Department and did not put
forward amendments to their
constitution”.

THREE SCHOOLS PASS REVIEW

Meanwhile three other
schools will continue to
receive funding.

The Islamic College of
Brisbane, Langford Islamic
College in Perth and the
Islamic College of Melbourne
were given the news on
Tuesday. A decision about
the Islamic College of South
Australia has yet to be made
but the minister
acknowledged the response of
all four schools.

“Since 2 March the schools
have followed through with
real action on their
commitments to implement
substantial changes to their
operations, including
ensuring appropriate
independence,” Mr Birmingham
said.

The Islamic College of
Brisbane has been working with
the government.

He said all four authorities
had genuinely engaged
independent support in
preparing their response and
committed to implementing
substantial changes.

“These substantial changes
included pursuing changes to
their constitution and
commencing an implementation
plan of self-identified
improvements and changes
stipulated by the
Department.”

The department will continue
funding to the schools
provided extra conditions to
ensure the changes and
improvements were sustained.

Mr Birmingham said the
school in South Australia
was also in the process of
making changes and the
department would make a
final decision on its future
in the coming weeks.

“I am committed to ensuring
that all school authorities
meet the requirements of the
Education Act to ensure that
our taxpayer dollars and any
private investment by
parents is being spent to
benefit Australian
students,” he said.

“School governance should be
of the highest standard and
funding should be
exclusively used for the
education and welfare of
students.”

Researchers from Griffith
University are looking for
adult female and male
Muslims to attend a focus
group to discuss
experiences of living in
Muslim communities.

This research is part of a
study conducted by Associate
Professor Halim Rane and his
team on Muslim settlement
and integration in Australia.

Along with the other
participants, you will be
asked to discuss the main
factors that influence your
decision to reside in your
suburb, what you like most
about living there, the
nature and contexts of your
interactions with Muslims
and non-Muslims and your
thoughts concerning
relations between the Muslim
community and wider society.

If you choose to
participate, you will be
invited to attend a focus
group with 8 to 12 others
from your suburb. If you
live in one of the suburbs
listed here, you are
invited you to contact Husan
Ruzehaji to register. Light
refreshments will be
provided and in appreciation
of your time, you will be
given a $50 gift card.

Thanks
to the
generosity
of our
Brisbane
community
so far
over 500
filled
Shoeboxes
have
been
filled
for the
ShoeBox
for
Syria
campaign.

If you
would
still
like to
contribute
towards
this
worthy
cause,
please
complete
your
Shoeboxes
by 24
April
2016.

Simply
follow
the
guidelines
below
when
selecting
gifts
for your
Shoebox,
and
remember
to also
do the
following:

-
Label
the
top
of
the
Shoebox
with
age
group
&
gender.
-
Place
a
small
note
inside
listing
the
contents.
-
Secure
your
Shoebox
closed
with
an
elastic
band
- do
not
seal.

There
will be
a
working
bee at
10am on
Saturday
23 April
at the
Kuraby
Mosque
were the
plan is
to
complete
a
further
100+
Shoeboxes
with
donated
fillers
and
items
purchased
with
financial
contributions.
If you
would
love to
help out
and can
spare an
hour or
two,
contact
the
organizers
below.

To RSVP
for the
working
bee, or
to drop
of your
Shoebox
donations,
contact
one of
the
following
coordinators:

Construction of a new mosque
in the Canberra Islamic Centre
complex has been under way for
two years.

The construction of a new
mosque in southern Canberra
is set to ramp up after a
$1.4 million donation from
the Kuwaiti government.

​Canberra Islamic Centre
president Azra Khan said the
construction of the centre
in Monash, which has been
under way for the past two
years, is now expected to be
finished in March 2017,
after their funding
submission was granted via
the Kuwait embassy in
Canberra.

"We've been really quite
hamstrung with funds so we
could have to collect
donations and once we had
enough to do a piece of
work, we'd do that work.
What this means is we've got
the full assurance that the
funds are accessible to
complete the entire job,"
Mrs Khan said.

"We've finalised the
foundation works and we've
also started the framework
and the steel structure will
be going up in the next week
or so. What this means is we
can get on with the cladding
and the roofing and
everything else in very
quick succession."

The centre will be named the
Ahmad Al Sabah Masjid and
Islamic Education Centre, in
recognition of the
contribution from the Emir
of Kuwait.

Mrs Khan said it will
provide the south Canberra
Islamic community with a
dedicated place of worship.

"We at the moment use the
community hall to pray and
it's not really ideal
because the hall is a
multi-purpose hall and then
we often have to move the
prayer mats out and
reconfigure things for
community purposes," she
said.

"What this means is we have
a dedicated place where we
can pray and use it for that
purpose as well as an
Islamic education centre
with dedicated classrooms
and reading rooms.".

A spokesperson from the
Kuwait embassy in Canberra
said the embassy would be
involved in the project from
start to finish.

He said the building would
"support a lot of people".

The centre so far has been
supported by the Australian
government and the rest of
the community. It's not just
a mosque, it's a school, a
library, it's a meeting
point," he said.

Kuwait ambassador to
Australia Najeeb Al-Bader,
Canberra MP Gai Brodtmann
and the Grand Mufti of
Australia, Dr Ibrahim Abu
Mohamed attended the
official signing off of the
funding arrangement on
Tuesday.

"We are constantly on the
lookout for funding,
charitable donations and the
like.

"This really was the result
of a submission we put
forward to the embassy of
Kuwait some 18 months ago I
think.

"It went through a very long
process of consideration.

"It's not something we were
expecting but we were
hopeful because we did get
some indication of some
interest so we were kind of
alerted a few months ago
when they asked for more
information.

"We started getting quite
excited.

"We've been really quite
hamstrung with funds so we
could have to collect
donations and once we had
enough to do a piece of
work, we'd do that work.
What this means is we've got
the full assurance that the
funds are accessible to
complete the entire job.

"We're aiming to complete it
by March 2017.

"It's a dedicated place of
worship. We at the moment
use the community hall to
pray and it's not really
ideal because the hall is a
multi-purpose hall and then
we often have to move the
prayer mats out and
reconfigure things for
community purposes. What
this means is we have a
dedicated place where we can
pray and use it for that
purpose as well as an
Islamic education centre
with dedicated classrooms
and reading rooms to allow
for more professionalised
locations.

"It's in line with what the
state of Kuwait does
nationally. They look at
similar proposals and they
looked at ours and saw it
was in line with their
criteria for donations.

"I think they were impressed
with the complex and the
work we do there currently
and I think they could see
the value in providing this
significant donation to that
structure.
"They do a lot of work
internationally of that
nature and we met their
criteria.

"We're very grateful to the
Emir of Kuwait and the
embassy and the ambassador
Najeeb Al-Bader.

A $1.4 million funding
agreement between Kuwait and the
Canberra Islamic Centre for
their new mosque was signed off
on Tuesday.

Four
people were evicted from the
Western derby AFL match in
Perth after displaying an
anti-Muslim banner during
last Saturday night's game
at Subiaco Oval.

The spectators unfurled the
"stop the mosques" banner
and displayed it for a short
time, before they were
removed from the ground and
handed over to police.

A spokesman for the WA
Football Commission
confirmed the incident and
said moves were underway to
have the offenders banned
from the ground.

Last week, AFL boss Gillon
McLachlan said he would not
tolerate the game being used
to vilify sections of the
community after an
anti-Muslim banner was
unfurled during the Friday
night match between Richmond
and Collingwood at the MCG.

After that incident a number
of players, including West
Coast's Nic Naitanui took to
Twitter to condemned the
banner.

Following the latest
incident, AFL spokesman
Patrick Keane reiterated the
league's stance in a tweet
saying the anti-Islamic
views did not in any way
represent the game in any
way.

The United Patriots Front
used Facebook to confirm the
group's involvement.

A spokesman said in a video
post the group's members
were "mobbed" by spectators
and one was arrested after
trying to stop another
person taking the banner out
of his hands.

He said the member was
hand-cuffed, but later
issued a move-on notice and
released.

6 Things
Wrong With
Trevor Phillips
Latest Crusade
By Abdul-Azim
Ahmed (A
graduate of
Religion and
Theology BA and
a Masters in
Islam in
Contemporary
Britain. Abdul-Azim
is currently
completing a PhD
on Islam in
Wales.)

UK: I genuinely
can’t remember
the last time
there was a
single week
without a
headline story
about Muslims.
Sometimes, its
unavoidable.
With global
crises like
Syria, the
post-war mess in
Iraq, and acts
of terrorism –
headline news is
expected. But
other times,
it’s engineered.
Like the
non-story of
Ramadan exam
timetables, or
the non-story of
halal hysteria,
or the Sun’s
misleading ‘1 in
5 Brit Muslims’
sympathy with
jihadis’
frontpage (which
they had to
offer an apology
for).

This week, it’s
Trevor Phillips.
He’s come to
tell us
‘What British
Muslims Really
Think’.
Thanks Trev, but
no thanks. I,
and other
British Muslims,
can quite
confidently and
competently
express
ourselves. Note
the word really
too, which gives
off the air of
Muslims hiding
their true
intentions and
nature, almost
like a
subversive fifth
column. Trevor
Philips latest
Channel 4
documentary
reeks of a
particular kind
of condescending
and dog-whistle
sensationalism,
and as many
others have
pointed out over
the past day
alone, it’s full
of problems.
Rather than
re-invent the
wheel, here is a
recap of what
Trevor gets
wrong.

1) The Survey
Doesn’t Actually
Talk Directly To
Muslims

Writing in the
Sunday Times
(£), Trevor
remarks that: -
““Too often,
this section of
society is
spoken for by
self-styled
community
leaders, or
interpreted by
academic
experts. What’s
different about
this survey is
that it reveals
British Muslims
speaking for
themselves.”

First, there are
very few
self-styled
community
leaders left.
The last of them
are perhaps the
media pundits.
In the last
decade, British
Muslims have
invested heavily
into
self-organising.
They now have
elected bodies
such as the
Muslim Council
of Britain or
the Federation
of Student
Islamic
Societies,
established
religious
authorities,
such as the
Bradford Council
of Mosques or
the Imams
Online, and
public interest
groups, such as
Mend. No
organisation
speaks for all
Muslims, but the
landscape is
diverse, and the
trope of the
self-styled
community leader
is out of date.

There is also an
irony here.
Muslims have
been polled,
polled and
polled again,
with sometimes
hugely different
results each
time. Polls are
not some magic
trick to finally
let Muslims
speak for
themselves as
Trevor puts it.
In fact, as the
Sun’s frontpage
proves, they can
be just as
easily
manipulated for
other purposes.
And it’s what
Trevor has done
here. Trevor
will get lots of
airtime, lots of
coverage, a nice
paycheque, and
go home. Whereas
the damage is to
British Muslims,
who once again
are spoken
about, instead
of spoken with,
and it is they
who must live
with the
consequences.

CONTINUED
NEXT WEEK IN CCN:
2) The Survey
Doesn’t Tell Us
What British
Muslims Really
Think

Do you really
want me to open
this can of
worms? Yes, I
really do not
want to but
someone has to
speak up and it
has fallen to
someone like me.
We will seek to
identify some
major problems
with the madrasa
system in place
in the UK.
These are some
points that we
are going to
address:

In this part, Dr. Jasser Auda
concludes the series with
discussion of where children
should line within a mosque and
whether women are solely
responsible for them during
prayer. Also, whether mosque’s
gates should be open for both
men and women or dedicated for
each gender is also elaborated
on in this article.

Children’s status and
place in mosque
As for children, the
observed practice during the
lifetime of the Prophet
(peace and blessings be upon
him) was that the older
among them would form
separate rows. Sometimes the
imam was a child like `Amr
ibn Salamah in the Hadith
referred to above.

Yet, this practice rarely
takes place in our age; few
are the children who observe
prayers properly with due
concentration and Khushu`.
It is thus more suitable
that children be accompanied
by their parents in mosque
or have special halls where
they can be taught and
guided by volunteering males
and females, especially in
public occasions where there
are big numbers of children.

About Islam

Mosques’ doors for both
men and women
Mosques’ doors were
accessible to both men and
women during the lifetime of
the Prophet (peace and
blessings be upon him) and
during the reign of Abu Bakr.

Then, `Umar decided to
assign a specific door for
women only, and prevented
men from entering mosque
through it. Yet, women were
not prevented from entering
mosque through men’s doors.

It is reported in Abu
Dawud’s Sunan from Nafi` ibn
`Umar that he said: `Umar
ibn Al-Khattab said, “It
would be better if we leave
this door for women (Another
narration from Nafi` reads
that `Umar ibn Al-Khattab
would prevent men from
entering the Mosque through
women’s door)”.

The issue of assigning a
specific door for women is
based on an ijtihad
(personal reasoning) by `Umar
and is meant for
organizational purpose; it
was not a tawqifi matter
(i.e. instructed by a
religious text reported from
the Prophet, peace and
blessings be upon him).

Hence, `Umar’s forbidding
men to enter the Mosque
through women’s door is just
meant for public interest;
it is not a binding legal
ordinance that applies to
all times and places.
Besides, it does not revoke
the permissibility of having
common doors in the Mosque
for both men and women.

In this age, and especially
in countries with Muslim
minorities, it is more
proper that the mosques’
main entrances be open for
both men and women, even if
circumstances necessitated
reserving an additional door
for women only.

Besides, it is forbidden for
men to roughly treat or talk
to women if they enter a
mosque through “men’s door”,
as we unfortunately see in
present day reality.

In fact, maltreatment of
women in mosques is one of
the major problems that the
Muslim youths encounter.
Such an attitude makes the
youth disinclined towards
Islam and Muslims, and makes
non-Muslims feels aversion
from the Muslim message, as
witnessed by Muslims living
among non-Muslims.

Summary
It is not a Sunnah practice
to isolate women in specific
halls or to place fences or
curtains between men and
women in mosques. Rather,
the Sunnah is that women
pray in the same mosque and
the same hall, with women’s
rows lined behind men’s
rows. Men’s rows start at
the front of the mosque and
women’s lines start at the
mosque’s back and go
forward.

Besides, there is no harm
that a woman moves around
the mosque when there is no
congregational prayer, when
men pray individually.

It is not a Sunnah practice
that girls or boys be
prevented from frequenting
mosques or that women alone
be responsible for looking
after them in mosques.

Moreover, it is permissible
to assign a specific sideway
door for women, especially
in cases of overcrowding, or
to draw lines or signs on
the ground, separating men’s
and women’s praying areas,
without preventing women
from entering mosques
through the main doors.

Muslims should also consider
how woman’s status and place
in mosques has bearings on
new generations of youth,
males and females alike, on
the image of Islam and on
the effectiveness of dawah
efforts.

About Islam

END OF
SERIES

About Dr. Jasser AudaJasser
Auda is a Professor and Al-Shatibi
Chair of Maqasid Studies at
the International Peace
College South Africa, the
Executive Director of the
Maqasid Institute, a global
think tank based in London,
and a Visiting Professor of
Islamic Law at Carleton
University in Canada. He is
a Founding and Board Member
of the International Union
of Muslim Scholars, Member
of the European Council for
Fatwa and Research, Fellow
of the Islamic Fiqh Academy
of India, and General
Secretary of Yaqazat Feker,
a popular youth organization
in Egypt. He has a PhD in
the philosophy of Islamic
law from University of Wales
in the UK, and a PhD in
systems analysis from
University of Waterloo in
Canada. Early in his life,
he memorized the Quran and
studied Fiqh, Usul and
Hadith in the halaqas of Al-Azhar
Mosque in Cairo. He
previously worked as:
Founding Director of the
Maqasid Center in the
Philosophy of Islamic Law in
London; Founding Deputy
Director of the Center for
Islamic Ethics in Doha;
professor at the University
of Waterloo in Canada,
Alexandria University in
Egypt, Islamic University of
Novi Pazar in Sanjaq, Qatar
Faculty of Islamic Studies,
and the American University
of Sharjah. He lectured and
trained on Islam, its law,
spirituality and ethics in
dozens of other universities
and organizations around the
world. He wrote 25 books in
Arabic and English, some of
which were translated to 25
languages.

The foundation of al-Mansur’s
‘Round City’ in 762 was a
glorious milestone in the
history of urban design. It
developed into the cultural
centre of the world

The round city of Baghdad in
the 10th century, the peak of
the Abbasid Caliphate.
Illustration: Jean Soutif/Science
Photo Library

Mansur’s palace was a
remarkable building of
360,000 sq ft. Its most
striking feature was the
130ft-high green dome above
the main audience chamber,
visible for miles around and
surmounted by the figure of
a horseman with a lance in
his hand. Khatib claimed
that the figure swivelled
like a weathervane,
thrusting his lance in the
direction from which the
caliph’s enemies would next
appear. Mansur’s great
mosque was Baghdad’s first.
Encompassing a prodigious
90,000 sq ft, it paid
dutiful respect to Allah
while emphatically conveying
the message that the
Abbasids were his most
powerful and illustrious
servants on earth.

By 766 Mansur’s Round City
was complete. The general
verdict was that it was a
triumph. The ninth-century
essayist, polymath and
polemicist al-Jahiz was
unstinting in his praise. “I
have seen the great cities,
including those noted for
their durable construction.
I have seen such cities in
the districts of Syria, in
Byzantine territory, and in
other provinces, but I have
never seen a city of greater
height, more perfect
circularity, more endowed
with superior merits or
possessing more spacious
gates or more perfect
defences than Al Zawra, that
is to say the city of Abu
Jafar al-Mansur.” What he
particularly admired was the
roundness of the city: “It
is as though it is poured
into a mould and cast.”
The last traces of Mansur’s
Round City were demolished
in the early 1870s when
Midhat Pasha, the reformist
Ottoman governor, tore down
the venerable city walls in
a fit of modernising zeal.
Baghdadis have since grown
used to being excluded from
the centre of their
resilient capital.

Just as they had been barred
from the inner sanctum of
the city under Mansur, so
were their 20th-century
counterparts excluded from
the heart of Baghdad on pain
of death 12 centuries later
under Saddam Hussein. The
heavily guarded district of
Karadat Maryam, slightly
south of the original Round
City on the west bank,
became the regime
headquarters, the engine
room of a giant machine
carefully calibrated to cow,
control and kill using the
multiple security
organisations that enabled a
country to devour itself.
Under the American
occupation of 2003 it became
the even more intensely
fortified Green Zone, a
surreal dystopia of six
square miles in which Iraqis
were largely unwelcome in
their own capital.

Today, after a 12-year
interlude, the Green Zone is
open to Baghdadis again. But
as so often in their
extraordinarily bloody
history, Iraqis find they
have very little to cheer
about as the country tears
itself apart. The great city
of Baghdad survives, but its
people are once again
engulfed in terrible
violence.

So what exactly is halal
comedy? According to Jakim’s
guidelines, the jokes cannot
be too funny, so that it
doesn’t make people laugh
too much. Coz behaving
(laughing) in an extreme way
is not good moral values.
Also, jokes shouldn’t be
made on serious or mournful
matters, so we guess… that
leaves 1MDB out? :-(

Even offstage, comedians are
expected to be of ‘noble
personality’ with ‘good
morals’, ruled Jakim. No
criminal convictions,
whether under civil or
Syariah law. Lastly, and men
and women should not mix in
the audience – or on stage.

“If we were to enforce the
guidelines we would need
some sort of laugh-meter. We
imagine religious Laughter
Police snooping comedy shows
looking to catch comics who
indulge the audience with
‘excessive laughter’.” –
Rizal Kamal, Chief Executive
of LOL Events, Chortle

It’s young women like her
who deserve the highest
rank, even those who aren’t
as recogniéed for their
activism as Malaila. As an
activist at the age of 16,
she was the youn gest holder
of the Nobel Peace Prize at
the age of 17, standing up
for the right of education
and freedom.

With a name that translates
as "Crown among Mosques",
this place of worship in
Bhopal has a pink façade,
two 18-storey high octagonal
minarets with marble domes,
and a double-storeyed
gateway. All of which mean
it is not surprising that
this is India 's largest
mosque, with enough space
for 175,000 worshippers.

DUBAI: If you
are tired of your neighbour
cutting into your internet
signal, then the UAE’s most
populous city seems to be
the right place for you.
There, a fatwa - or
religious law - has been
issued prohibiting the
misdeed.

Word of the law first
circulated when a user asked
if connecting to another
person’s Wi-Fi without their
knowledge is fine, according
to Gulfnews. The matter was
addressed by the Islamic
Affairs and Charitable
Activities Department (IACAD),
an actual agency of the
Dubai government.

The IACAD responded by
putting the query under the
modern fatwas section,
saying:

“It is not allowed for
people to use what belongs
to others without payment or
without their permission.
Therefore, the internet
should be used only after
subscribing for the
service.”

Fatwas are legal
pronouncements issued by
Islamic religious figures
with a view to the Koran.
They can be issued by
governments and religious
groups alike.

Sir Winston Churchill’s
family begged him not to convert to Islam,
letter reveals

He might have been a staunch
protector of the British Empire,
but the British Prime Minister
had a love of the Orient and
Islam

UK: The
family of Sir Winston
Churchill urged him to
“fight against” the desire
to convert to Islam, a newly
discovered letter has
revealed.

The Prime Minister who led
Britain to victory in World
War Two was apparently so
taken with Islam and the
culture of the Orient that
his family wrote to try and
persuade him not to become a
Muslim.

In a letter dated August
1907 Churchill’s soon to be
sister-in-law wrote to him:
“Please don’t become
converted to Islam; I have
noticed in your disposition
a tendency to orientalise,
Pasha-like tendencies, I
really have.

“If you come into contact
with Islam your conversion
might be effected with
greater ease than you might
have supposed, call of the
blood, don’t you know what I
mean, do fight against it.”

The letter, discovered by a
history research fellow at
Cambridge University, Warren
Dockter, was written by Lady
Gwendoline Bertie who
married Churchill’s brother
Jack.

"Churchill never seriously
considered converting," Dr
Dockter told The
Independent. "He was more or
less an atheist by this time
anyway. He did however have
a fascination with Islamic
culture which was common
among Victorians."

Churchill had opportunity to
observe Islamic society when
he served as an officer of
the British Army in Sudan.
In a letter written to Lady
Lytton in 1907 Churchill
wrote that he “wished he
were” a Pasha, which was a
rank of distinction in the
Ottoman Empire.

He even took to dressing in
Arab clothes in private - an
enthusiasm he shared with
his good friend the poet
Wilfrid S. Blunt. But Dr
Dockter thinks Churchill's
family need never have
worried about his interest
in Islam.

"[Lady Gwendoline Bertie]
would have been worried
because Churchill was
leaving for an African tour
and she would have known
Churchill had been seeing
his friend, Wilfrid S.
Blunt, who was a renowned
Arabist, anti-imperialist
and poet. Though he and
Churchill were friends and
dressed in Arabian dress at
times for Blunt's eccentric
parties, they rarely
agreed."

In 1940, when Churchill was
leading Britain’s fight
against Nazi Germany, he
gave his support to plans to
build what became the London
Central Mosque in Regent’s
Park - putting aside
£100,000 for the purpose -
in the hope of winning the
support of Muslim countries
in the war.

He later told the House of
Commons that “many of our
friends in Muslim countries”
had expressed appreciation
for this “gift”.

But while he was vocal in
his admiration for Islam,
Churchill was not
uncritical. “The fact that
in Mohammedan law every
woman must belong to some
man as his absolute
property, either as a child,
a wife, or a concubine, must
delay the final extinction
of slavery until the faith
of Islam has ceased to be a
great power among men,” he
wrote in his 1899 account of
Sudan, The River War.

“Individual Moslems may show
splendid qualities, but the
influence of the religion
paralizes the social
development of those who
follow it. No stronger
retrograde force exists in
the world. Far from being
moribund, Mohammedanism is a
militant and proselytizing
faith.”

Dr Dockter, who assisted
the London Mayor Boris
Johnson on his book about
Churchill, discovered the
letter while researching his
forthcoming book Winston
Churchill and the Islamic
World: Orientalism, Empire
and Diplomacy in the Middle
East.

Indonesia promotes halal
industry to attract tourists from Middle
East

JAKARTA
– Indonesia is now intensively promoting
the development of halal tourism in an
effort to attract tourists from Muslim
nations, particularly countries in the
Middle East.

The Tourism Ministry has designated at
least 10 provinces as halal tourist
destination regions, which comprise six
provinces or special regions in Java (Banten,
Jakarta, West Java, and Central Java, in
addition to Yogyakarta and East Java),
two in Sumatra (West Sumatra and Aceh),
one in Kalimantan (South Kalimantan) and
one in Nusa Tenggara (West Nusa
Tenggara/NTB).

The Tourism Ministry will formally
announce Aceh and West Sumatra provinces
in Sumatra as halal tourist destinations
in 2016. The announcement will be made
following the announcement of Lombok (NTB)
as a halal tourist destination.

Indonesia has to develop its halal
tourism destinations as these have the
potential to attract foreign tourists
(particularly those coming from the
Middle East), according to Oneng Setya
Harini, assistant deputy for People
Empowerment and Destination Management
of the Tourism Ministry.

Indonesia, which is also supported by
its predominantly Muslim population, can
become a friendly tourist destination
nation for the worlds Muslims. “We will
encourage and develop Aceh and West
Sumatra to become halal tourism
destinations. The two provinces have
more attractiveness and various tourist
sites,” Oneng Setya Harini was quoted by
Liputan6.com online media as saying last
Wednesday.

Halal tourism destinations have
developed in a number of countries such
as Malaysia and Japan, she said. These
types of tourism destinations have grown
rapidly in neighbouring countries.

Sensing this development, Indonesia is
not willing to be left behind Malaysia.
Even more, Indonesia is blessed with
regions that have Islamic cultural
nuances such as the Aceh provinces.

“We have to become better than Malaysia,
which is why we will develop Aceh. Aceh
has a strong Islamic culture and natural
potential. People come to Indonesia for
its culture,” she said.

The Tourism Ministry hoped the halal
tourism plan in West Sumatra and Aceh
will proceed well this year, so that
these two provinces would attract more
foreign tourists from Muslim countries,
Oneng Setya Harini said. Actually, halal
tourism is designed not only for Muslims
but also for non-Muslims.

The Head of Tourism and Creative Economy
Office of the West Sumatra province,
Burhasman, said the halal tourism
concept is not only for Muslims and
non-Muslims can also enjoy it.

“There is still a misunderstanding about
halal tourism and some people think it
is meant for Muslims only as all things
must be based on Shariah. However, halal
tourism means the destination,
accommodation, culinary and tourist
attractions must all be as per the halal
concept,” Burhasman said in West Sumatra
last week.

The Indonesia Ministry of Tourism will
develop halal tourism in West Sumatra, a
province that has a potential for such a
concept just as West Nusa Tenggara
province, known for similar tourism.

“West Sumatra has a potential for halal
tourism development as culturally, it is
known as a religious province,” the
Deputy Assistant of Business and Market
Segment Development, the Ministry of
Tourism, Tazbir, said here on April 2.

He explained that halal tourism is a
universal concept which includes serving
healthy food, providing clean
accommodation and hospitability.
Therefore, all the people find it
suitable.

“We want West Sumatra achieve a similar
status as West Nusa Tenggara which has
been awarded the World Best Halal
Tourism Destination award,” he said,
adding that demand for halal products is
from the world community.

Indonesia won three awards as the world
halal tourism destination at the World
Travel Awards 2015 event held in the
United Arab Emirates (UAE). The winners
of the World halal Travel Awards 2015
were announced at a gala dinner in Abu
Dhabi on October 20, 2015, in
conjunction with the World Halal Travel
Summit 2015.

The development of halal tourism in West
Sumatra, according to Burhasman, has a
big potential, but what is really needed
is a guarantee that guests will be
served halal food and will be able to
stay in a place that is safe and
comfortable, he added.

For instance, he said, a hotel that
applied halal tourism concept should
provide a travel prayer mat, the
direction of the Qibla, and there should
be a mosque nearby.

In addition, halal tourism must
necessarily come with a good service and
should be friendly, have reasonable food
prices, must be free of extortion, and
should have clean toilets.

Burhasman said the administration will
develop rules and regulations to support
the implementation of halal tourism
concept in West Sumatra.

According to Tazbir, halal tourism is a
universal concept which includes serving
healthy food, providing clean
accommodation and ensure good
hospitability. It is suitable for all
people.

“We want West Sumatra to achieve the
same status as West Nusa Tenggara which
was awarded the Worlds Best Halal
Tourism Destination award,” he said.

In the meantime, the Ministry of Tourism
also is making efforts to boost the
number of tourist arrivals from various
Middle Eastern countries in West Nusa
Tenggara (NTB). It backs the move to
establish a halal tourism acceleration
development team in the province.

“The team is expected to focus on
mapping constraints and solutions to
ensure development of tourism based on
the Islamic sharia. It is also expected
to make coordination easier,” Hafizuddin
Ahmad, the deputy chairman of the Halal
Tourism Development of the Tourism
Ministry, said here on Wednesday (April
6).

Hafizuddin said NTB is one of the 10
halal tourism destinations being
developed in Indonesia to attract
foreign tourists, particularly those
coming from the Middle Eastern
countries.

Of the ten halal tourist destination
provinces, the government is focusing on
three provinces, namely NTB, Aceh and
West Sumatra, to expedite halal tourism
development.

“Such efforts have been on since 2015.
Efforts to develop such tourism in West
Sumatra and Aceh have also been on since
the beginning of this year,” he said.

He said although Aceh and West Sumatra
have just began on the path to develop
halal tourism, the local governments had
set up working groups last year itself.
In NTB, such a working group was yet to
be set up.

However, NTB, according to Hafizuddin,
has taken the lead in the development of
halal tourism because it has issued a
gubernatorial decree to develop such
tourism. The gubernatorial decree will
be followed by local government
regulations.

PAKISTAN:
'Song of Lahore' is the
companion album to the
documentary of the same name
by Andy Schocken and
Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. The
film tells the story of a
group of musicians called
the Sachal Ensemble
struggling to survive in the
oppression and brutality of
modern day Pakistan.

The album
features collaborations
between the Sachal Ensemble
and a plethora of guest
artists including Jim James
of My Morning Jacket, Sean
Lennon, Wynton Marsalis,
Nels Cline of Wilco, Susan
Tedeschi and Derek Trucks,
Madeleine Peyroux, Cibo
Matto, Becca Stevens and
iconic actress Meryl Streep.

"We will show
the world that Pakistanis
are artists, not
terrorists." - Nijat Ali
(Violin/harmonium/conductor
of the Sachal Ensemble)

Female Air France crew can
opt out of Iran flights over headscarf,
official says

TORONTO: The Canadian
Council of Imams said Monday it would
open “deradicalization clinics” in the
Toronto area next fall to serve as hubs
for dealing with community members who
have been drawn into violent extremism.

“We just want to take a proactive
approach,” Imam Hamid Slimi (pictured)
said of the plan, to be announced at a
CCI dinner on Monday night. The council
also recently formed a National Security
Committee, the Toronto imam said.

“We need to take action because this is
a growing problem worldwide. And at
least we want to create a successful
model,” said Slimi, the CCI’s former
chairman. “There is a will in the
community. Nobody wants to see another
Brussels or Paris.”

Like other Western nations, Canada is
experiencing a growing radicalization
problem, underscored by the October 2014
terror attacks that resulted in the
deaths of two Canadian Forces members in
Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu and Ottawa.

According to the Canadian Security
Intelligence Service, about 180 people
“with a nexus to Canada” are currently
active in overseas terrorism — including
100 in Syria and Iraq alone. Another 60
have returned to Canada after engaging
in terrorism.

To help tackle the problem, the council
is proposing two or three clinics across
Toronto that would serve as community
resource centres on radicalization
issues. They would take a “holistic”
approach, he said, making use of
mental-health experts, academics and
theologians, among others.

“There will be training this summer, and
then in fall we launch these clinics,”
he said. “I hope we won’t be that busy.
It’s not that bad. But these days one
individual can do the biggest damage you
can imagine. So that’s the whole idea.”

The federal budget unveiled by the
Liberals last month included $35 million
over five years for a new Community
Outreach and Counter-radicalization
Co-ordinator’s office. Montreal and
Calgary already have local programs.

SOUTH AFRICA:
An eventful journey spanning
years of longing,
disappointment, setbacks and
fury, involving the
aspirations of the Muslim
community of Valhalla, on
the outskirts of Pretoria,
added to its story a
refreshing chapter on
Tuesday with the Tshwane
Municipality officially
handing over to its
representatives a piece of
land earmarked for a Masjid.

The handover event, held in
the heart of the suburb and
open to the public, from the
outset looked to be in
jeopardy, with threats from
right wing members of the
surrounding, predominately
white, community,
threatening to continue
opposing the development
with violence and
Islamophobia.

Organisers on Tuesday had
the venue of the
announcement secured by
private personnel, with
police reinforcements also
on standby.

As proceedings got underway,
a pocket of protestors
assembled outside holding
placards denouncing the
mosque as an infringement of
their rights, a challenge to
Christian values and a
blemish on the peace of
their neighborhood.

Inside, a principal objector
to the development sought to
derail proceedings from the
outset, but was quickly
reigned in, without
succeeding in creating
excessive disturbance.

Protestors

Accompanied
by senior council officials,
Tshwane Mayor, Kgosientso
Ramokgopa , addressed the
capacity audience, in what
community activist Yusuf
Abramjee lauded as a
“powerful message” that
struck a chord with the
community.

“He was very firm in
expressing the view that
nothing will stop the
council from allocating land
for places of worship to the
community, noting that 142
donations have been made
thus far,” Abramjee told Cii
Radio.

“You can never place a rand
value on the presence of a
mosque, temple or church, ”
Ramokgopa said.

“We took a decision that
everyone must be allowed to
practice their religion.”

A capacity
crowd for the event

Tackling the
nature of objections put
forward by critics of the
Masjid and petitions
submitted to council,
Ramokgopa ‏affirmed that
residents will always be
guaranteed the freedom to
raise their disagreements,
but cautioned that hate
speech would never be
tolerated.

“If your petition is to stop
the Muslim community, your
petition will be defeated,”
the mayor said.

Papers affirming the
handover of the Masjid land
to the Muslim community were
signed in front of the
ecstatic audience, after
which the Mayor was afforded
a standing ovation and
thunderous applause, and
presented with various gifts
from the Valhalla Muslim
community.

“The land has officially
been allocated, which means
the process for building the
mosque can now formally
start, once remaining
formalities have been
completed,” Abramjee said.

The crime-fighter encouraged
the Muslim community to take
up the fight against hate
speech and threats levelled
at them – which have gone
viral online – legally, by
considering options such as
the Equality Court and South
African Human Rights
Commission.

All round
congratulations

“This type of
hatred should not be
allowed, and these type of
individuals who are
spreading threats, violence
and hatred should be brought
to book. We cannot sit back
and tolerate this type of
lawlessness from some
members of society.”

While Abramjee believes the
voices of opposition will
not go silent, he told Cii
Radio it was time the
community looked forward to
a new chapter that will be
governed by the spirit of
the Constitution.

“The key word is tolerance.
We need to respect each
other, and we need social
cohesion. the least we can
do is to promote goodwill
and promote harmony.

“We are 22 years into our
democracy. There are places
of worship for all faiths
across South Africa.

We need to
respect each other’s
religion. And perhaps the
way to do it is to educate
our fellow human beings that
these mosques are not places
of hatred. A mosque is a
place of peace, a place
where people worship”.

Abramjee stressed that
respect should be mutual,
urging Muslims to be
cognisant on being
responsible in the way they
interacted with fellow
residents through their
attendance at Masaajid, as
well as not causing
discomfort where communities
have objected to the loud
broadcast of the Athaan.

“Let us work together and be
tolerant. Through our good
example we will be able to
promote what our religion
teaches us which is
tolerance and respect,” he
said.

KUWAIT:
Philosophy professor Sheikha
al-Jassem (Shaikha Binjasim)
is facing charges of
blasphemy and the possible
loss of her faculty position
at Kuwait University, owing
to remarks she made in a
television interview about
freedom of conscience, the
politicization of religion
in Kuwait, and how the
Kuwaiti constitution, not
the Quran, is and should be
the basis of law in Kuwait.

According to a report from
the BBC, al-Jassem has been
“summoned to the
prosecutor’s office after
legal complaints of
blasphemy were filed against
her.” If she is convicted,
she could be jailed for up
to a year. The report
continues:

Her remarks provoked a storm
of attacks against her,
spearheaded by Islamist
members of Kuwait’s
parliament. “They were
terrifying me—everywhere,
not just from Kuwait, even
from Saudi Arabia,” she told
the BBC. “They were talking
against me, they were saying
bad things, they were
ridiculing me. But I’m used
to it now.”

Calls were made for Ms
Jassem’s dismissal from
Kuwait University, where she
is a professor of
philosophy. and a legal
complaint was issued against
her.

The public prosecutor told
her that the complainant
said he had been
psychologically damaged by
her remarks. Other legal
complaints may also be
filed.

Q: Do you consider Kuwait to
be a religious state or a
democratic state?A: Our source of
authority is supposed to be
the constitution. The
constitution stipulates that
the Kuwaiti regime is
democratic… The Shari’a is
‘a source’ (for legislation)
and not ‘the source’, like
others want. Therefore, this
question should not even be
raised.
Q: But they say that the
Quran, the Shari’a, and the
religion are more important
than our constitution.A: This is the undoing of
our democratic regime.
Q: According to them, this
is a conservative Islamic
state.A: A citizen who thinks
like that poses a danger to
the state… his loyalties do
not lie with Kuwait.

Muslim infant searched by
airport security after being placed on
terrorist watch list: advocacy group

US: The
Council on American Islamic
Relations is accusing the
U.S. government of placing a
7-month-old baby on the
terrorist watch list, which
resulted in his diapers and
baby bag being searched at
an airport, the Detroit Free
Press reports.

The baby, now 4 years old,
was labeled as a known or
suspected terrorist by the
FBI on a federal watch list
intended to screen potential
terrorists, according to the
paper. The child is one of
the plaintiffs in a lawsuit
filed this week claiming
that U.S. Muslims have been
unfairly targeted.

“He was 7 months old when
his boarding pass was first
stamped with the ‘SSSS’
designation, indicating that
he had been designated as a
‘known or suspected
terrorist,'” the lawsuit
reads. “While passing
through airport security, he
was subjected to extensive
searches, pat-downs and
chemical testing. Every item
in his mother’s baby bag was
searched, including every
one of his diapers.”

The “SSSS” on boarding
passes alerts security
personnel of a suspected
terrorist.

INDIA: The
phrase – “Bharat Mata Ki
Jai” – means “Hail Mother
India”, and refers to the
nation personified as a
Hindu goddess. It’s widely
used as a statement of
patriotism by the BJP,
India’s Hindu nationalist
ruling party. Some
politicians have called for
all students to be taught
the phrase in school.

Ulama however affirm it goes
against Tauheed, and they’re
trying to stop the phrase
being imposed. In March, a
prominent Muslim leader said
he would never utter the
slogan “…even if you put a
knife to my throat”, and a
few days later another
politician from the party
was suspended from the state
assembly in Maharashtra
after refusing to repeat it.

Debate on the slogan has
raged ever since, with one
BJP politician saying those
who refused to hail Mother
India, whatever their
religion, should have no
right to remain in the
country.

But Baba Ramdev escalated
the rhetoric even further
when he spoke at a meeting
on Sunday, organised by the
right wing Hindu
organisation RSS with the
aim of promoting community
harmony

GUESTS OF THE
MERCIFUL: An Umrah pilgrim,
hosted under the Custodian of
Two Holy Mosques’ Guest Program,
is welcomed by officials in
Madinah.

MADINAH,
SAUDI ARABIA: The branch of
the Ministry of Haj in
Madinah registered the
arrival of 3.778 million
visitors since the beginning
of Umrah season, while the
number of visas issued by
the Kingdom’s embassies
totaled 4.363 million.

According to a report issued
by the Ministry of Haj in
Madinah on Thursday,
3,357,647 pilgrims arrived
by air, while 399,506
pilgrims arrived by land and
21,719 pilgrims by sea. As
for visas granted for Umrah,
five states topped the list
of most issued visas, with
Egypt coming in first with
23.68 percent, followed by
Pakistan with 16.86 percent,
Indonesia with 12.48
percent, Turkey with 8.33
percent, and India with 7.49
percent. The remaining visas
were issued by other
countries, bringing the
total to about 30 countries.

The director of the Ministry
of Haj’s branch in Madinah,
Mohamed Al-Nejaoi, said the
branch carried out 356
inspections on Umrah
companies and service
organizations to verify that
they are providing quality
services to pilgrims and
visitors. He said 162
offenses were reported,
which were dealt with in a
timely manner, while the
total number of inspections
on pilgrims’ housing was
988.

He added that counselling
centres distributed
throughout the central area
surrounding the Prophet’s
Mosque began work at the
start of the Umrah season
and so far have provided
services to 10,485 stranded
pilgrims, and guidance to
5,980 others.

A black belt in martial arts
isn’t required for you to
defend yourself against an
attacker. Take a self-defense
seminar, or at the very
least watch some videos
online. Practice the
techniques you learn and use
mental imagery to plan a
strategy for different
scenarios. By contemplating
threatening situations in
this way, you are training
your body and mind to act
from a place of power
instead of weakness and
paranoia.

Need to know how to fight
back? Southside Academy of
Combat will help email
info@sscombat.com.au or
call 0447004465 for more
information. Or visit our
Facebook page southside
academy of combat.

Click here for contact
and registration details for
Southside Academy of COMBAT

DescriptionTo
save precious centuries-old Arabic texts from Al Qaeda, a
band of librarians in Timbuktu pulls off a brazen heist
worthy of Ocean’s Eleven.

In the 1980s, a young adventurer and collector for a
government library, Abdel Kader Haidara, journeyed across
the Sahara Desert and along the Niger River, tracking down
and salvaging tens of thousands of ancient Islamic and
secular manuscripts that had fallen into obscurity. The
Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu tells the incredible story of
how Haidara, a mild-mannered archivist and historian from
the legendary city of Timbuktu, later became one of the
world’s greatest and most brazen smugglers.

In 2012, thousands of Al Qaeda militants from northwest
Africa seized control of most of Mali, including Timbuktu.
They imposed Sharia law, chopped off the hands of accused
thieves, stoned to death unmarried couples, and threatened
to destroy the great manuscripts. As the militants tightened
their control over Timbuktu, Haidara organized a dangerous
operation to sneak all 350,000 volumes out of the city to
the safety of southern Mali.

Over the past twenty years, journalist Joshua Hammer visited
Timbuktu numerous times and is uniquely qualified to tell
the story of Haidara’s heroic and ultimately successful
effort to outwit Al Qaeda and preserve Mali’s—and the
world’s—literary patrimony. Hammer explores the city’s
manuscript heritage and offers never-before-reported details
about the militants’ march into northwest Africa. But above
all, The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu is an inspiring
account of the victory of art and literature over extremism.

"One who does not read is no better than one who cannot
read."

Would you like
to see the cover of your favourite book on our book shelves
below?

KB says:
Spatchcocking a bird is cutting out the backbone
and flattening it. This allows the chicken to
cook quickly and evenly, which ends up as moist
juicy meat. A flavourful marinade of lemon and
herbs infuses the chicken with a superb scent
and aroma.

Lemon & Herb Spatchcock Chicken

INGREDIENTS

1 baby chicken or a
size 8 chicken

First, spatchcock (butterfly) your chicken by
placing the chicken on a cutting board, breast
side down. Using heavy duty kitchen shears, or a
knife, remove the backbone of the chicken. Then
find the cartilage where the breastbone begins,
and slice through it. Use your hands to spread
the chicken apart so that it lays flat.
(your butcher could do this for you)

Start eating
healthier - change / cut out a few of your fave
sweets or fried foods & replace it it with good
fats / nutrients. Remember protein is good for
muscle recovery, so replenish after a workout.
Water is the best to rehydrate so drink up!

This will help get your body race-ready for the
big day. Get up 30 mins earlier in the mornings
in preparation for Creswalk & be sure to get
enough zee's (shut-eye).

Get ready for a full-on program that will see
you 'breeze' through the walk come race day.

"And Behold! You come to Us
bare and alone as We created
you for the first time: you
have left behind you all
(the favours) which We
bestowed on you: We do not
see with you your
intercessors whom you
thought to be partners in
your affairs: so now all
relations between you have
been cut off, and your (pet)
fancies have left you in the
lurch!"

1. All Islamic Event dates given above are tentative and
subject to the sighting of the moon.

2. The Islamic date changes to the next day starting in
the evenings after maghrib. Therefore, exceptfor Lailatul
Mehraj,
Lailatul Bhahraat
and
Lailatul Qadr – these dates refer to the commencement of the event
starting in the evening of the corresponding day.

1. Daily Hadeeth reading From Riyadusaliheen,
After Fajar and after esha .
2. After school Madrassah for children Mon-Thu 5pm to 7pm

3. Adult Quran classes (Males) Monday and
Tuesday after esha for an hour.
4. Community engagement program every second Saturday of the
Month, interstate and overseas speakers, starts after
margib, Dinner served after esha, First program begins on
the 15 August.

5. Monthly Qiyamulail program every 1st
Friday of the month starts after esha.
6. Fortnight Sunday Breakfast program. After Fajar, short
Tafseer followed by breakfast.
7. Weekly Tafseer by Imam Uzair after esha followed by
dinner. Starts from 26 August.

For all activities, besides Adult Quran,
classes sisters and children are welcome.

Articles and
opinions appearing in this newsletter do not necessarily
reflect the opinions of the Crescents of Brisbane Team, CCN,
its Editor or its Sponsors, particularly if they eventually
turn out to be libellous, unfounded, objectionable,
obnoxious, offensive, slanderous and/or downright
distasteful.

It is the usual policy of CCN to
include from time to time, notices of events that some
readers may find interesting or relevant. Such notices are
often posted as received. Including such messages or
providing the details of such events does not necessarily
imply endorsement of the contents of these events by either
CCN or Crescents of Brisbane Inc.

The best ideas
and the best feedback come from our community of readers. If you
have a topic or opinion that you want to write about or want
seen covered or any news item that you think might be of benefit
to the Crescents Community please e-mail ccn@crescentsofbrisbane.org.

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thoughts, feelings and ambitions for our community through CCN.

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